“I thought maybe I could read it to you, a chapter a day.”

April 20, 2020 11:57 AM

Radio host Phoebe Judge, best known for the Criminal and This Is Love podcasts, has a new project: Phoebe Reads A Mystery, in which she records herself reading a chapter of a classic mystery a day.
She has finished The Mysterious Affair At Styles and The Hound of The Baskervilles, and has just begun The Moonstone.

Criminal listeners may remember The Moonstone from when it came up in “The Gatekeeper”, in which Judge interviewed critic Marilyn Stasio.

posted by Going To Maine (6 comments total)

I will say that her accent on the occasional French word is a little off, but if you are a fan of Judge’s radio voice this is a complete delight.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:09 PM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

I've been listening to these on my daily walk. They are wonderful and (as Going To Maine noted) occasional mispronunciation aside, Phoebe's reading of them is just perfect. They're probably one of the only things from These Times that I'm going to look back on fondly.
posted by parm at 12:43 PM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

The Moonstone has aged poorly and is unfortunately the wrong Wilkie Collins. I'd be 100% on board for the Woman in White, which would be a perfect listen for me as I know I liked it but remember very little.

I think I'll give the Christie one a spin. Haven't read any of hers as an adult. Thanks for the link!
posted by mark k at 1:07 PM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have enjoyed this a ton over the past few weeks, although I much preferred The Mysterious Affair at Styles to The Hound of the Baskervilles. My grandmother listens to them too, which I love.
posted by hepta at 4:14 PM on April 20, 2020

UK journalist Caroline Crampton has been doing a podcast series about the stories behind classic detective novels - Shedunnit. Strongly recommended.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 4:27 PM on April 20, 2020 [2 favorites]

There are a few genuinely striking moments in The Moonstone but some of it is kinda "wut", yeah. It has the advantage of being epistolary, perhaps.
posted by Standard Orange at 11:08 PM on April 21, 2020